Midnight's Workshop
by Midnight Sleeper
Summary: A variety of oneshots that are posted as the ideas come to me. Requests are listened to, so if you have an idea you want to see, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Chapter 4: Love notes? Detectives? Just what is going on?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Negima. That is Ken Akamatsu's brain child. The only thing I own are my ideas, so please don't sue. Likewise, I don't own Connor Gavet as he is the creation of XSerac. And finally, I don't own the song that is used in this fic either. There we go. All bases covered.

**Author's Notes:** Welcome one and all to Midnight's Workshop! An idea that has been a few months in the making and unlike my Negima: Reset concept actually managed to get off the ground! Anyways, you ever get those ideas for oneshots and leave them in your head? And then you keep getting them? Well, that's the main reason that Midnight's Workshop was born. A place for Midnight's oneshots to have life. Plus I feel like it will give me a chance to experiment with using different characters, genres, and the like. That's where you, the reader come in. Have something that you'd like to see me try? Let me know in an e-mail, review, or whatnot and if the idea interests me, it's a safe bet to say that I'll run with it. Nothing really off limits, so let your imaginations run wild. At the start of each chapter in the Author's Notes, I'll give the info on the chapter, that way you know what exactly the story is about. Case in point, the following story is one that I was going to dolast year, but ran short on time. Being a St. Patrick's Day story, it goes without saying that it was kind of time sensitive, and unfortunately, I ran out of time. But alas, the second time is the charm and here it is, bigger and better than ever. Happy St. Patrick's Day and enjoy the read. Last but definately not least though, I want to offer up a special thanks to my buddy XSerac for Darkside, as the concept I'm doing here with Workshop is admittedly similar. Hope it's not seen as a rip off, but if it is, sorry. Enjoy the show!

**Story Statistics:**

**Main Characters:** Negi Springfield, Clyde Metro, Sports Girls

**Supporting Characters: **Kotaro Inugami, Connor Gavet (Happy early birthday Serac!), Cheerleaders

**Story Length: **No parameters set.

**Genres: **Humor/Parody

**Extra Additions/Restrictions:** None

* * *

**Midnight's Workshop**

**Chapter 1-St. Patrick's Day Paranoia **

The sun is shining brightly across Mahora City as a clock announces to the school that it is high noon. This means several things of course, but most importantly for the students, it means lunch time. The day being so nice, most of the students are outside enjoying their meals. Nothing out of the ordinary...well, save for the pair of boys sitting down to dine at the all girl academy.

"Ah yeah! The best time of the day, right Negi?" The first boy asks. A teenager with neck long sand blonde hair, sharp blue eyes, and a school uniform consisting of black slacks, suspenders, white shirt, and black tie. He waves and chuckles to a pair of girls who walk by and wink.

"Well, lunch time is always a good time, Clyde...um, do you mind?"

The second chap, our 10 year old protagonist Negi Springfield, watches on in shock as the other boy has started to eat off of his tray.

"Hey, I'm a growing boy too, Negi." Clyde tries to defend himself in between shoveling food in his mouth. "Besides, some people don't receive as big of a stipend from Meldiana as others..."

"Maybe you could get a job?"

The duo looks up from the tray to see a trio of girls with trays sitting down in front of them. A happy looking brown haired girl, a serious looking black haired girl, the seriousness amplified by the sword carried by her side, and the source of the work comment, an orange haired blue/green eyed lass with bell decorations in her twin ponytails.

"Oh! Hello girls!" Negi cheerfully replies to the trio as Konoka hands a meat bun over to the blonde, who quickly devours it.

"Wow! You must be really hungry, Clyde-kun!"

"Oh, you are a saint, Konoka!" Clyde grins and flashes the girl a thumbs up. "I owe you one, that's for sure."

"You're ducking my question." Asuna coolly replies in between bites. "Why don't you get a job to support yourself like some of us have to?"

"Mana was talking about the shrine possibly needing some help." Setsuna chips in as she sips her tea. "Maybe if you tone it down..."

"Tone it down?" A half shocked Clyde nearly falls off the table at the comment. "Aw, now, you guys don't think I could get that job like I am now?"

The older boy scans the table, nervous chuckles and head shaking being the norm. Negi finally speaks up, trying to reach out to the shocked mage.

"Well, you do have a tendency to come out a little...er, uncouth..." Negi chuckles and takes a bite of what's left of his meal. "Er, no offense or anything of course."

"Hah! I could get that job, no problem! I'll show you guys!" Clyde stands up from the table and raises his fist in the air, confidence coming off of him in waves. "I hereby say that I, Clyde Metro, am cool and composed enough to hold down any job!"

Clyde laughs loudly as everyone eating outside stares at him, unsure of what to make of the spectacle. A few tables away, another trio of girls watches on with similar confusion.

"Oh, my...Clyde-kun is certainly high spirited today." Chizuru Naba notes, watching herroommate with a smirk on her face.

"Do you think he's gotten heatstroke maybe?" Natsumi Murakami wonders, a look of mixed confusion and concern etched on her face.

"Either that or sitting next to monkey girl has driven him insane." Ayaka Yukihiro grimaces as she watches the boy march from the dining area. "Oh well, at least him and Negi-sensei have become quick friends."

Back at the small sensei's table, the quartet look at each other, looks of confusion still on all of their faces.

"What a baka. He's doomed." Asuna shakes her head, clearly not expecting the interview process for the boy to go smoothly.

"I tried to help him. I really did." Setsuna resumes eating, a slight regret of bringing the idea up still echoing in the back of her head.

"Maybe it won't be as bad as we think." Negi muses as he finishes what little Clyde left of his lunch before lowering his voice. "He is a fellow mage after all. Surely he could offer some help."

"Yeah! We just need to think positive!" Konoka chips in as she pats Setsuna on the back, making the raven haired girl blush. "Way to help him out, Set-chan."

"No trouble at all, Ojou-sama." Setsuna manages to stammer out. "I just hope that Mana is in a really good mood..."

Negi at this point has finished his lunch and is looking over some paperwork, sighing sadly as he writes a number on top of one of the sheets.

"What's wrong, Negi?" Asuna's concern vanishes as she notices the number on the sheet and the name. "Three? Oh come on! I got most of the words right, so how the hell is a three fair?"

"Well, um, you see Asuna..." Negi chuckles nervously as Asuna grabs the red pen out of his hand.

"Yeah, right here! I missed one word! So why do I get the whole question wrong over one word?"

"Quizzes are a hit and miss! If a bit is wrong it's all wrong, especially in a language class where there isn't really any way to show your work like a math problem. I'm sorry Asuna, I really know you tried, but..."

"Yeah! You're definitely going to be seeing me try something else here in a minute!" The belled girl growls. "And there isn't going to be any "missing," that's for sure!"

"Should've known this would happen sooner or later." Konoka shakes her head as she takes a gulp from her soda can. "It's been a day or so since they last got into it."

"One day, two hours, forty-two minutes, and eight seconds..." Setsuna looks over to Konoka, a mixture of amazement and confusion painted on her face. "When you are in my line of business, you tend to keep a sharp eye on time."

"That is so cool, Set-chan!" Konoka glances away from her childhood friend, now noticing Asuna chasing Negi around their table and chuckling at the spectacle. "They really are like brother and sister, aren't they?"

* * *

Negi hums to himself as he grades papers, having migrated from the hustle and bustle of the outdoor cafeteria to the plaza in front of the school. Thanks to some timely interference from the class rep, Negi was able to sneak away from his angry roommate and get some of his grading done in the past couple hours. The young teacher sighs in relief as he takes his red pen to another sheet, still unable to shake the feeling of dread he is feeling towards his frustrated roommate at the time.

"Hopefully, Asuna calms down before I see her again. I didn't mean to make her upset, but she needs to learn..."

Negi looks up as he hears a boy moaning softly. Sure enough, just a few yards away, he notices Clyde staggering towards him holding his forehead in pain. Just as confusing for Negi is the fact that a certain ermine is riding shotgun on the boy's left shoulder. Clyde sits down on the bench next to Negi and sighs loudly, moving his hand to allow Negi to see the large welt in the middle of his forehead.

"So it could have went better, I take it?" Negi asks as Clyde slowly nods his head. "So, um...what exactly happened?"

"...I'd rather not say." Clyde grimaces as Negi puts a dim glowing finger to his forehead, making the welt disappear after a few seconds. "Thanks, buddy."

"I'll tell you what happened!" Chamo hops from Clyde's shoulder onto Negi's before whispering into the young teacher's ear. Negi's eyes grow as large as saucers as Chamo proceeds with his account.

"You asked her THAT?" Negi shakes his head in disappointment as Clyde sweat drops.

"It was supposed to be a joke! And besides, Chamo is the one that told me to use it!"

It is now the ermine's turn to sweat drop as Negi figuratively burns a hole through him with his stern gaze.

"Well, um, I figured that would be a good way to lighten the mood and help Clyde get into a better position for his interview...way to get me busted, Clyde. Appreciate that. You asked me to go along for moral support and everything..."

Clyde mutters under his breath at the last bit. "The position it got me in was shot with a rubber bullet." The look of frustration quickly disappears behind a smile, much to the young wizard's confusion. "Though on the way back, Chamo and I did think up a good way to get some money. You want to help us?"

"Um...this isn't going to be humiliating, is it?" Negi fearfully asks as Chamo and Clyde exchange amused looks.

"Nah! Not at all, Aniki!" Chamo gives the young boy that all-too-familiar smile, the one that is a dead giveaway that the words being spoken may not be the full truth. "What's today?"

"March 17. So?"

"What holiday is celebrated on March 17, particularly in our little corner of the world?"

"St. Patrick's Day...you two aren't going to try to pinch me, are you?" Negi replies with a smirk on his face.

"Nope." Clyde grins broadly as he wraps an arm around Negi's shoulder. "We got something better. A little performance, if you will."

The blonde boy leans in and whispers the idea to Negi. The boy's face runs a full gamut of emotions, from amusement, to shock, to horror, to frustrated refusal.

"Nobody would want to see that!" Negi backs away from the grinning teen. "And not to mention, it's embarrassing! We'd look like fools!"

"No you wouldn't, Aniki!" Chamo pipes in, hoping to keep the plan intact. A plan that the ermine hoped would be profitable or amusing, preferably both. "I think it would go over really well. The girls would just eat it up!"

"I even took the liberty of rounding up some help for us." Clyde beams as he takes the paperwork from Negi's hands, promptly tossing it into the boy's briefcase and slamming it shut. "Grading homework on a Monday...geez, you really do need this just for something to do. That's what you got all week to do! Get you out of your little rut. All work and no play isn't good for your health."

"Yeah, but a song and dance? This particular song and dance?" Negi shakes his head before continuing. "Besides, it isn't even an Irish song! That group is just as English as you and I!"

"Well, yeah...but it sounds Irish." Clyde smiles at his excuse. "You're a teacher, Negi. Think of this as a learning experience for your students, not as a ploy for money or attention. You'd be bringing a whole new culture to Mahora! Hell, you'd be a hero!"

"Maybe you're laying it on a little thick there, Clyde." Chamo protests, the blonde too caught up in his explanations to notice. "Oh well. Maybe it'll work. Negi's a good guy, but he can be a little gullible." The ermine pauses his thought process long enough to let out a snicker while rubbing his paws together. "And that is very good for this little ermine. Very good indeed."

"So come on. You're in, right Negi?"

"Do you even know the meaning of these lyrics?" Negi tries to talk his way out again. "You'll get us both in trouble with this! Plus the band is named after a drug!"

"Settle down, Negi. It's all in fun! Nobody will take the lyrics seriously! Not many people will be able to understand English well enough to know what they mean anyways! Let's do this, buddy."

"I've got to agree with the kid here, Metro. This is stupider than hell."

His face brightening, Clyde turns his attention towards a very sleepy looking youth walking towards them. A few years older than Clyde, his brown hair is mussed and his five o'clock shadow adds to the look on his face that makes it fairly obvious that the boy hasn't had that much sleep. The young man's identity? None other than the self-proclaimed badass of Mahora, Connor Gavet.

"Hey, Connor! Glad to see you made it!"

"For your sake, this had better be good." Connor replies, making Clyde actually gulp a little bit in response. "So what exactly are we doing? And why couldn't it have waited until after I shaved?"

"You're going to need that rugged look, Connor!" Clyde grins, not making the scowl on the older teen's face disappear. "Besides, we're going to be raking in the dough!"

"Yeah, you keep blabbing about money…but what if I don't care?" Connor coolly asks before continuing. "Money isn't exactly an issue to me."

"Aw, it will be fun! Besides, remember the little idea I had? You know, about taking Kazumi bowling with me and the gang tonight? That way you and Ku Fei can do whatever it is you're intending to do?"

"A gang?" Connor scratches his stubble in response. "How a guy like you has any friends is beyond me. But fine. What the hell are we doing?"

"Well, I'm not sure that you're going to like it…" Negi starts off. "Truth be told, I don't really like it either."

"Don't be a spoilsport, Negi!" Clyde laughs as he puts the boy in a loose headlock. "Like I said, it will be profitable…and fun…and profitable!"

Before Negi can reply to his blonde cohort, the boys turn as they hear a cheery voice shout out to them.

"Hi guys! We're here!"

Clyde smiles as he watches the trio of cheerleaders approach them, Sakurako waving a large duffel bag at the boys as they close in.

"We got the stuff you wanted!" Sakurako happily chirps, handing the bag over to Clyde. The boy looks in the bag, the smile on his face growing larger by the second.

"Yeah, this will work nicely. Thanks for tracking her down for me."

"No problem!" Madoka replies. "Natsumi said she didn't have a problem with loaning you three those costumes."

"Costumes?" The look of worry on Negi's face grows, aware of what exactly the costumes probably are. "You can't be serious. You didn't say anything about costumes!"

"I was afraid you'd say something like that." Clyde shakes his head as he strokes his chin. "That's why we have a wardrobe department though. Girls?"

"You can count on us!" Misa grins as she and the other two girls grab Negi and quickly drag him off behind a nearby tree. The older boy chuckles and sits next to Chamo on the bench, eager to see if they could actually pull the look off. Connor for his part alternates his gaze between the chuckling Clyde and the yelps that Negi is letting out as the cheerleaders play dress-up.

"Girls, you really don't need to do this! I can dress myself!"

"Nuh-uh, Negi-kun! You're not weaseling out on us!"

"I like what we have so far. Maybe I should shoot it past my boyfriend?"

"He'd look cute in this Misa, but not as cute as Negi-kun here!"

"So how do you think Clyde-kun will look in this?"

"Geez, he can hear you, Sakurako!"

"What? I'm just curious! Besides, I saw you two drooling over Connor-sensei!"

Connor and Clyde for their parts just look at each other with confused looks, both sweat dropping. Connor thinks of biting the bullet and running in to save Negi, but decides against it, figuring that the cheerleaders would probably turn their attention to him if he interferes.

"All done!"

And as quickly as the boy was pulled behind the tree, he is booted out from behind it. The pair on the bench look over the costume in silence. "Cobbler shoes? Check. Overalls with legs rolled up slightly? Check. Sleeveless shirt? Check. Neckerchief...whoops."

"Ah well. It's close enough." Clyde chuckles as the embarrassed sensei blushes, his face almost as red as the hair on his head. Connor meanwhile just stares on in disbelief, having enough pride to not want to do this…which you probably wouldn't need much pride for in the first place, but that isn't the point.

"No way. You are off your rocker Clyde!" The older teen replies through clinched teeth. "If you think that I'm going to wear that ridiculous wardrobe, you are in for a harsh reality!"

"Yeah, I was kind of thinking that you were going to say that…Sakurako?"

"No problem, Clyde-kun!" The cheerleader beams as she grabs Connor's arm, dragging him behind the same tree to meet the same fate that Negi has. Speaking of Negi, the poor teacher is still in shock over his own wardrobe and is finding it hard to come up with any words to say at the moment. Chamo on the other hand is getting a kick out of the festivities, sitting on Negi's shoulder and smirking at Clyde, causing him to flip a thumbs-up to the ermine before quickly snapping back to reality due to another voice.

"Did you just give Negi-kun's ermine a thumbs up?"

Clyde chuckles as he looks behind the bench, seeing more of the day's helpers. Makie Sasaki, Yuna Akashi, Ako Izumi, and Akira Okochi, all dressed in short white dresses.

"Um...yeah. Kind of..." Clyde chuckles nervously as he wracks his brain for an excuse to offer up for the swimming ace. Fortunately for him, an excuse is unneeded as the girls notice Negi's little outfit.

"Oh my gosh!" Makie gushes, tackling the young boy to the ground in a hug. "You are just so cute, Negi-kun!"

Gasping for air, Negi somehow manages to get up to his feet despite Makie's grip on him, only to be taken down again as Yuna follows suit.

"Aww! That is such a cool outfit on you, Negi-kun! I can't wait for the performance!"

Akira and Ako look at each other for a second before running over to pull their fellow Sports Club friends off of the still-suffocating teacher. Negi gets to his feet and sucks in as much air as his little lungs can allow. After regaining his composure, the young boy looks at the growing number of girls around him.

"Um...thank you, Makie-san, Yuna-san. Er...what are you four up to today?"

"Clyde asked us if we wanted to help out with your cultural display." Ako notes as she checks over Negi for bruises, putting a small band aid on the kid's elbow to cover up a small scrape, being sure to do so before blood can come from the wound. "There we go, Negi-sensei! All better!"

"None of our clubs had any activities today, so we don't mind helping you, Sensei." Akira adds in as she helps Negi back to the bench. "Besides, being a dancer might be fun."

"Dancer?" Negi's eyes nearly shoot out of his head as another thought crosses his mind. "Clyde, just how much "help" did you round up?"

"Well..." The boy puts his index finger to his chin as he ponders. "The cheerleaders are working wardrobe as I'm sure you now know...these four are background dancers. Ku Fei and Misora are working on rounding up an audience for us. Ditto for the twins. You know, I gotta say that Misora is really good at sprinting too. Probably has a bright future ahead of her if she keeps it u..."

"Clyde, who else?"

"Oh, sorry for wandering there, Negi. Lemme see...the two brainiacs got us a karaoke machine and some loudspeakers, that way we don't have to worry about any instruments...Kazumi is doing a favor for me…figured that I would ask the moronic kid…"

"Kotaro?"

"Oh, that's his name? Yeah, whatever. Anyways, when I asked him, he said something about me being an idiot and ran off. Got to say that the kid is good at hiding at least."

"...So about half the people we know?" Negi cuts the older boy off again, sighing in frustration as he does so. "Wonderful."

"Clyde, I'm going to kill you!"

Ears perking up, both Negi and Clyde turn their attention to a pissed off Connor, wearing an outfit identical to Negi's, right down to the same clothes size, making for a very uncomfortable teen.

"You're doing this just to piss me off, aren't you?" Connor growls, taking a couple awkward steps towards Clyde as if to back up his earlier threat. "I swear, if they hadn't glued this thing to make sure I couldn't take it off, you would be a dead man."

"We got to make sure that the outfit will fit you…plus we have to make sure that you don't try to get out of it. You made a deal, after all."

"The hell I did!"

"Sure you did! Bowling, remember?" Clyde flashes a victory sign to Connor and Negi before taking the duffel bag from a smirking Sakurako. "Be right back guys! I gotta get changed myself! Just sit back and relax!"

"Relax? How can I relax like this?" Negi scowls as the thought of his current predicament runs through his head. "This is going to be so embarrassing! And what's worse, if Asuna catches us doing this, she'll never let me live it down! I've got to find some way out of here, but how...?"

"We could kill him." Connor offers up, much to Negi's horror. "I'm taking that as a no?"

"All ready for show time, guys?" Negi feels an arm drape over his shoulder and turns to see a grinning Asakura, waving a camera in front of him before draping that arm around Connor. "This idea is a little silly, but with me as your promotional manager, we're going to make a killing…wow Connor. The small outfit really makes you look cute."

Connor's face turns red soon after the statement, though if it is from blushing at the reporter's comment or from lack of air is anybody's guess. As the badass continues to wheeze, the gears turn in the younger teacher's head.

"Promotional? What are you talking about, Asakura-san?"

Before Negi can get an elaboration, him and Asakura turn their heads as the loud commotion of talking schoolgirls grows larger and larger. Sure enough, Ku Fei, Misora, and the Narutaki twins are leading a large group of students to the plaza. Negi's head hangs at the sight, both sad at the large amount of witnesses and impressed that five people were able to gather such a large time in such a short time. The boy lifts his head as a second arm goes around his shoulder, this time being a smiling Clyde, decked out in the same outfit. Asakura and the�blonde exchange a wink and the paparazzi springs to work, taking a snapshot of the smiling blonde, the confused looking redhead, and the pissed off brown haired teen clutched under Clyde's other arm.

"Perfect!" Asakura gives the trio a thumbs up before running back towards the dorms, much to the confusion of Negi.

"Promotional pictures, guys!" Clyde tightens his grip on the younger boy's neck as he laughs. "She said it would be a perfect way to raise a little extra yen. Said she had to go get copies from the angry girl. Chisame? Yeah. The one that doesn't like me."

"At the expense of our...my dignity? I know it doesn't matter much to you, but to me...is that dirt in your hair?" Negi stops his mini rant as he notices dust falling in front of him.

"Yeah, since I can't exactly grow a beard yet, I figured to get the dirty look, we'd do something else."

Clyde's wrap around his cohorts' necks has at this point evolves into a headlock, leading to him dragging both youths right next to the karaoke machine. After swiping the mike from the machine, Clyde flashes the crowd a victory sign before beginning with his spiel.

"Hello, girls! How are we doing today!" The boy pauses as the girls laugh and cheer. "Glad to hear! On behalf of my sensei, Negi Springfield here, I would like to welcome you to our Irish Cultural Demo, today on St. Patrick's Day! Free-will donations are encouraged...but anyways, we'll be doing a little song and dance for your entertainment, to show you the Irish ways."

Clyde pauses for more cheers, clearly relieved that they all seem to be buying it. Before he speaks again, he notices a blonde working her way through the crowd, eyes set dead ahead on him.

"Um...how we doing, roomie?"

"Don't get chummy with me, Clyde-san! What are you doing with Negi-sensei? Natsumi said something about...a…cultural..."

Ayaka trails off as she notices Negi wrestle out of Clyde's grasp. Where the costume on the older boy had little effect on Ayaka, when she sees Negi in the same costume...well...

"Um...apparently the anticipation for the performance has caused our Class Representative to bleed profusely! Our apologies!" Negi and Clyde quickly tend to the now woozy Ayaka, lying her down on the bench next to the teacher's suitcase. Connor being the compassionate badass he is attempts to go help, but finds moving quite difficult in the three sizes too small outfit he is currently glued in. The other boys scurry back into place, Negi mostly due to being prodded along by the quartet of dancers. "And now, a classic St. Patrick's Day song!" Clyde does his best to not crack up with the last line, while Negi and Connor both roll their eyes, the duo hoping against hope for something to stop the performance.

"A power outage?" Negi wishes.

"An explosion?" Connor hopes.

"Asteroid maybe?" Negi and Connor look at each other. Alas for the poor youths, no such luck, as the karaoke machine starts up, Clyde grinning as he prepares to lip sync.

_Poor old Johnny Ray_

_Sounded sad upon the radio_

_Moved a million hearts in mono_

_Our mothers cried_

_Sang along, who'd blame them_

_Now you're grown, so grown, now I must say more than __ever_

_Go toora loora toora loo rye aye_

_And we can sing just like our fathers_

_Come on Eileen, oh I swear what he means_

_At this moment, you mean everything_

_With you in that dress my thoughts I confess_

_Verge on dirty_

_Ah come on Eileen_

Grinning, Clyde takes time out of his busy schedule of lip syncing and dancing poorly to take a look around at his support. Negi and Connor are dancing just as badly, Connor slightly worse as he is still finding simple things like walking to be a nightmare with the small costume. The sports girls are having a better time…well Makie with her gymnast training and Akira with her quick adaptation anyways. Ako is trying her hardest, but the red face and the rapid breathing are pretty much a dead giveaway that the poor girl is suffering from stage fright. Yuna is clearly trying hard as well, but it is also clear to all watching that running down the basketball court in sneakers doesn't necessarily equal talent in the "dancing in heels" department. Seeing that his little stunt isn't going as well as he'd hoped, Clyde inhales deeply and carries on.

_These people round here wear beaten down eyes_

_Sunk in smoke dried faces_

_They're so resigned to what their fate is_

_But not us (no never), no not us (no never)_

_We are far too young and clever_

_Remember_

_Go toora loora toora loo rye aye_

_Eileen I'll hum this tune forever_

As Clyde continues his lip syncing duties, he notices something peculiar, that being an angry Connor hobbling towards him. Paying it no mind for the time being, he continues on.

_Come on Eileen oh I swear (what he means)_

_Ah come on, let's take off everything_

_That pretty red dress Eileen (tell him yes)_

_Ah come on let's, Ah come on Eileen_

_That pretty red dress, Eileen (tell him yes)_

_Ah come on let's, ah come on Eileen_

_Please..._

By this point, Connor has in fact managed to hobble close enough to Clyde to grab him by the collar, causing him to let out a yelp of shock. Negi, not really wanting to have a brawl on his hands quickly goes to try to diffuse the situation. Unfortunately for him, his smaller stature really doesn't make him that much of a physical obstacle as he finds himself unable to pry Connor from Clyde's neck. Deciding that his own self preservation is worth it, Clyde stomps down hard on Connor's foot, causing the teen to let go of his grip and stagger backwards, right into an unsuspecting Makie, causing the two to do an awkward dance of sorts before their feet get tied up and send both teens crashing to the ground.

"I…can't do it…"

Blinking in confusion, Negi looks over to see that Ako isn't really blossoming under the spotlight. Finally, the girl lets out a gasp and starts staggering back and forth. Negi and Clyde, being the English gentlemen that they are, quickly try to run to the rescue, though Clyde's attempts are cut off rather abruptly as he trips himself on the microphone cord. Negi, being of the microphone-less variety however manages to save the day, diving on the ground just in time to break the now unconscious Ako's fall.

"Stage fright…poor Ako-san." Negi muses as he tries to pull himself out from under the nurse's aid without causing her head to thump on the stage.

"Well, this can't exactly get much worse…" Clyde curses to himself as he gets up from the ground. And as to be expected when somebody says something along the lines of things not getting worse, naturally they do as Yuna still hasn't gotten her dancing legs, causing the poor girl to go careening into Clyde, the top of her head crashing hard into his jaw as she does so. As the blonde lies there going out of consciousness, listening to Yuna crying that she accidentally killed her buddy, a final thought runs through his head.

"_You know, in hindsight, this kind of was a crappy idea…"_

* * *

Several meters away from the makeshift stage, Kotaro Inugami can't help but laugh at the misfortune that Clyde has brought upon Negi and Connor. Sipping a soda as he watches on at the teens on stage stumbling about in a manner that doesn't resemble a dance of any sorts. The hanyo is about ready to leave when suddenly he jumps slightly into the air in pain. Rubbing his backside, Kotaro quickly scans about looking for the source of his slight irritation, his eyes opening wide in shock as he sees just what it is. Well, who it is anyways as he comes face to face with a pair of smiling pink haired girls that are about his height.

"What the hell?" Kotaro blinks in confusion, not quite sure if the two could really be the source of his slight pain. "Um…can I help you two?"

Both of the girls remain silent for a few moments as they seemingly study over the boy. After a short time, they both turn to each other and whisper, so quietly that Kotaro isn't even able to pick it up with his sharp hearing. The boy's look of confusion is replaced by one of slight pain once again as the girls break up their huddle smiling before pinching him again.

"Hey! What gives!"

"You aren't wearing green there, cutie!" Fuka giggles, causing the hanyo to sweat drop in response.

"Should know better on St. Patrick's Day!" Fumika agrees, pinching the boy in his shoulder this time.

"What the hell is St. Patrick's Day anyways?" Kotaro asks, realizing that he probably should have heard Clyde out earlier today. "It's supposed to be about making an idiot of yourself, isn't it?"

"Well, I think so…" Fuka starts.

"…But if you aren't wearing green, you get pinched! That's what Negi-kun told us in class!" Fumika finishes, cracking her knuckles and walking towards a very nervous Kotaro, who understandably decides that fleeing may be in his best interests.

"Aw, come back!" Fuka whines, giving chase to the black haired youth.

"Yeah! Where's your holiday spirit?" Fumika adds, managing to get another shot in at the fleeing boy. Panting as he flees through the crowd, Kotaro can only shake his head in disbelief before another though enters his mind. A thought about having a special conversation with a certain English teacher…

* * *

**The Stat Line:** Started March 2007, Complete 3/15/08, Posted 3/17/08 10:50 p.m.

**Musical Motivations:** "Come On Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners

**The Follow Up:** And there it is! Hopefully you got a laugh out of it or a small chuckle at least. I did use OCs for this one, yes, but am not expecting it to be a trend to use them heavilly unless it falls into somebody's request that I like or if I come up with a good idea. Let me know what you think and if you have something you would like to see me try to do, feel free to borrow the little Story Statistics thing I made up top and fill it out. As I said before, I'm pretty much open to anything, so use your imaginations. See you guys later, either with another edition of Midnight's Workshop or my main project of Negima: Fallout. Take care!

_-Midnight_


	2. Magic Misfire Mania

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Negima. That is Ken Akamatsu's brain child. The only things I own are my ideas, so please don't sue.

**Author's Notes:** Well, after a successful debut, what else is there for Midnight's Workshop to do but continue to grow, right? Of course, I wasn't planning on going on hiatus right for the last two months or so, but I think I'm recharged now. This was the first idea that I got and it looks like a good one. Kudos go to lunardragon2607 for this one. To be honest, it didn't turn out nearly as well as I was hoping it would, so please bear with me. Hope you all enjoy regardless.

**Story Statistics:**

**Idea: **Negi takes Yue for some one on one magic training when an accident with a spell causes them to swap bodies for a day!

**Main Characters: **Negi Springfield, Yue Ayase, Kotaro Inugami, Nodoka Miyazaki, Asuna Kagurazaka, Haruna Saotome.

**Supporting Characters: **Colonel Sanders/Alberio Imma, Evangeline A.K. McDowell, Chachamaru Karakuri

**Story Length: **I say go as long as you need to.

**Genres: **Humor/Romance

**Extra Additions/Restrictions: **There must be at least one pairing by the end of the story, as well as a

kiss. Don't care who gets paired up, as long as there's no yaoi.

* * *

**Midnight's Workshop**

**Chapter 2: Magic Misfire Mania**

"Master, we need your help!"

Blinking in confusion, Evangeline A.K. McDowell opts to press on.

"Master? What in the world are you talking about, Ayase?"

The reason for the vampire's confusion? Simple. You would be confused too if someone who wasn't your disciple or anything of the sort showed up on your doorstep one day and started calling you "master." Especially when your actual decuple is there standing right next to her. But enough about confusion.

"Um…well, funny story actually…" Yue chuckles, rubbing the back of her blue hair. A chuckle that is ended a few seconds later as the third person in the little group, Asuna, cracks the girl in the back of the skull. Shaking his head in confusion, Negi puts a hand on the ticked off redhead's arm before she can come back with a second blow.

"No offense Asuna but I really don't want any knots on my head." Negi replies, causing the vampire standing in the doorway to shake her head and laugh.

"Oh, I get it now…this is rich!" Eva cackles, much to the trio's frustration. "You screwed up something, didn't you, boya…or should I call you Ayase now?"

Negi gulps nervously before nodding in agreement. Chuckling at the sight of the panicking wizard, Evangeline motions for him to carry on.

"Well, Yue-san asked me to give her a little one on one instruction with her spells. And to be honest, she's getting better. As a matter of fact…"

"Boya, I couldn't give a damn about your little progress report with your students. Do I look like I'm a mother?"

"Well you are old enough to be…" Asuna mutters, a mixed look of frustration and amusement on her face.

"Kagurazaka, you should really learn to hold your tongue! If I wanted to, I could…"

"Drain my blood. Yeah, yeah, I know. Learn to take a joke!"

"I have better things to do than take jokes from children!"

"Master, we have a bit of a problem!"

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Eva turns her attention back to Negi.

"Yes, yes, I can see that. Get to the end of it, would you?"

Nodding, Negi proceeds with his story, looking among the group to make sure that nobody is going to interrupt.

"Well, I was using the ring that you gave me for the tournament and had my staff set to the side. I was having Yue-san practice firing off magic against a moving target…and she hit my staff on accident…and well…we wound up being stuck in each other's bodies."

Negi finishes, clearing his throat and rubbing the top of his head before flipping his blue hair out of his eyes. Evangeline and Asuna just stare at each other for a few moments before simultaneously face palming. "Negi" just looks on, a stoic look on his face as he shakes his head. Grumbling in frustration, Eva continues on.

"And you really needed to explain that to me? I don't know how I could have figured it out on my own. You know, other than the first five seconds you were here and talking to me in a girl's body!"

"Now now…there's no need to get angry, Kitty."

Muttering under her breath for what has to be about the tenth time in the last five minutes, the vampire turns her attention to her right. Her fears are confirmed as she looks at the source of the voice, leaning up against the edge of the cabin. An adult figure in a white robe and hood, a dark ponytail hanging out on the left hand side. Chuckling, the figure removes the hood, chuckling the whole time.

"Hello, everyone. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Evangeline clearly isn't amused by her latest "guest" and takes all of two seconds to let it be known to all in a five mile radius.

"I don't know how or why you are here Al…"

"Hey now." The man chuckles as he puts a hand up in defense. "If you please, I'd still prefer it if you called me Kunel. And for the record, you really should be careful that you don't hurt yourself. Wouldn't want that, now would we, Kitty?"

"Is that a threat!?"

Automatically assuming that the answer to her question is a "yes," Evangeline runs straight at Kunel, dropkicking him in the stomach…or she would have at least had she not flown through his body and into the side of the cabin's bathhouse behind him, causing the girl to fall to the ground and smack her head on the deck. Naturally, the girl's response is to roll on the deck and groan in pain. Chuckling, Kunel walks towards Negi and his (her?) group.

"She really should have listened…so Negi-kun, it looks like you've been through some changes since Mahorafest."

"Um…you could say that…" Negi replies, chuckling nervously all the while. "You see, what happened…"

"No need to tell me. I saw it happen." Kunel chuckles as he pats Negi on his head. "You and Yue-kun there had a little mishap with a spell. Magic fireball striking your staff. Asuna-kun wandered upon you two a few minutes later and found you two in your current state."

"Y…Yes." Negi responds, before noting something odd. "How did you see that anyways? I thought you could only send out your double when the World Tree's magic was at it's strong point during the festival."

"Well, yes." The older mage agrees before continuing. "Even without the power of the World Tree, I have enough in me to send a double. Granted, as you saw, it doesn't hold up to snuff physically too well, but it is handy as an extra set of eyes. How else do you think I was able to keep up with my hobby on researching people?"

Negi, accepting this convenient excuse, nods in agreement and is about to speak. However, before the transformed teacher has a chance, Yue speaks up.

"Look, no offense, but can you tell us how to change back?"

"Hmm…Well, you should be thankful that you weren't using stronger spells. The reaction that that staff had with your magic was strong, but not powerful enough to cause anything too long lasting." Sanders chuckles and puts a hand to his chin before continuing. "I'd say that it should last about a day or so…now if you'll excuse me, I think I should go check on Kitty…"

"Stop calling me that!"

Negi, Yue, and Asuna all look at each other with confused looks and decide that it would probably be in their best interests to leave the duo alone. The trio quickly takes their leave, discussing how exactly they are going to keep Negi and Yue's little mishap under wraps.

* * *

"Alright, so we're agreed, right?"

Negi scratches the back of his head nervously before responding.

"Yes. We'll just try to get through today without running into anybody. Just a nice, quiet walk back to the dorms."

Behind the two shorter children, all Asuna can do is shake her head at the other two's dialogue.

"_Why do I get the feeling that this isn't going to be as easy as they're making it out to be?"_

As if she was a psychic, Asuna's thoughts prove true as out of nowhere, Kotaro tackles Yue to the ground. All Negi and Asuna can do is watch on in horror as the black haired boy leaps up and flexes his right arm.

"Come on, Negi! You got to have better reflexes than that!" Kotaro grins as Yue lies on the ground coughing. The youth for his part just shakes his head in disbelief. "Oh, come on. You're tougher than that, Negi! Get up so we can spar!"

After a few more moments of uncomfortable wheezing on the ground, Yue manages to get up and promptly backhands Kotaro. The hanyo, shocked that he has been backhanded by who he thinks is a boy, rears back to throw a haymaker. Fortunately, Asuna and Negi jump in and hold the boy's arms behind his back, unfortunately leaving him open for another Yue backhand. Still in a state of shock, Kotaro fires off the first thing that comes to mind.

"Negi, why the hell are you fighting like a girl!?"

"Because I am a girl, you baka!"

"What?"

Blinking in confusion, Kotaro looks at the group, noting the panic that seems to be on "Yue's" face and the now stoic look on "Negi's." Laughing aloud, the boy makes his guess known.

"Oh, I get it! You two are pretending to be each other!"

Swing and a miss! Although on the bright side, it's a swing and a hit for Yue as she backhands Kotaro again. Deciding that there are better things to do with her time, Asuna opts to end the guessing game for Kotaro.

"Negi screwed up with his magic yet again and they wound up switching bodies!" The frustrated redhead blurts out, obviously tired of beating around the bush. "So if you want to beat up Negi, do it tomorrow!"

"Asuna!"

"Sorry Negi. What I meant was…eh, whatever."

"That's rich!" Kotaro snickers as the realization sinks in. "So how long are (snicker) you two stuck like this?"

Kotaro's answer is put on the backburner rather quickly though as Negi is quickly scooped up and thrown over someone's shoulder. Before any of the youths have a chance to act, the scooper turns around with a grin on her face.

"Haruna!? What the hell you doing to N…Yue?"

Still grinning, the manga artist adjusts her specs with her free hand before responding.

"Sorry Asuna. Official Library Club business. You understand!"

And with a victory sign, Haruna and the out of body Negi are off. Thinking for a few moments, Asuna turns to Yue.

"So you have Library Club stuff randomly then?"

"No, it's all scheduled out. Everything has a certain day and time. I guess there's unannounced things, but why would we do something with Konoka away for the weekend? Unless…" Yue pauses, a look of worry washing over her face. "…Oh geez. Not that again…"

"Not what again?" Kotaro asks, his blank stare adding further to his confusion.

"_Damn it Haruna. You'd better not be having them talk about what I think you're going to…"_

* * *

"What!?"

Haruna, naturally coming back from the little powwow a few minutes later and claiming to have "forgot something" is shocked to say the least when Asuna and Yue explain the peculiar predicament that Negi and Yue are in. Chuckling nervously and rubbing the back of her neck, the manga artist pats the body switched Yue on the head with her free hand, obviously doing very little to pacify the situation.

"And why did you feel the need to talk about this!?" Yue shouts. "There wasn't really any need to!"

"Well, I figured it'd been a good few days and it would be good for you two to talk it out." Haruna states matter of factly before grinning. "Besides, we all know about magic. Why didn't you speak up beforehand?"

"You dragged Negi off with you before we had a chance to."

"Well, why didn't Negi say anything?"

"Probably because you had your arm over his mouth as you dragged him away!"

"Um…excuse me?" Asuna opts to cut in, not really following as well. "What exactly is going on?"

"Well…you see…" Haruna starts off, trying to be a little more tactful in explaining the Negi/Yue/Nodoka triangle of love. But alas, tact goes out the window as Yue decides to just fire away.

"I love Negi-sensei!"

Almost as quickly as the words come out, Yue clasps her hands over her mouth in embarrassment. Haruna just looks on smirking and applauding while Asuna raises an eyebrow up. After a few moments of awkward silence, Asuna breaks the ice.

"Wait, wait, wait. YOU are in love with Negi too!?"

Blushing profusely, all the spirit misplaced girl can do is look at the ground and blush profusely.

"Y…Yes. It's terrible, I know. Especially since Nodoka…"

"Hey. We keep telling you it's alright." Haruna puts a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You can't help who you fall in love with… right, Asuna?"

It is now the redhead's turn to blush, turning several shades closer to her hair color as she does so. Her point made, Haruna continues on.

"Sorry that I was so impulsive, Yue. It's just that I know that this whole Negi deal has been bothering you and I thought that it would be a good time to talk it over."

"It's alright, Haruna." Yue sighs. "I guess I can't really blame you as it is something that Nodoka and I should talk about…plus, you didn't know about our situation. I guess that Negi was going to find out sooner or later…"

"Look on the bright side." Asuna adds, putting a reassuring hand on Yue's shoulder. "Maybe Negi let Nodoka in on the little mishap you two had before she said anything…"

Asuna's smile evaporates rather quickly however as she sees a nervously grinning Haruna shaking her head back and forth.

"OK, never mind…"

"Um…I'm lost." Kotaro scratches his head, obviously a smidge on the oblivious side as far as Negi's potential romantic endeavors are concerned. "So short stuff loves Negi?"

"Ye…n…damnit!"

Acting on impulse, Yue grabs the hanyo around the collar, shocking the black haired boy by the speed that the girl just showed, even if she is stuck in a wizard's body. Before the altercation can go any further though, a very red faced Negi makes his way back towards the group, chuckling nervously and sweat coming from his brow. Instantly, the color of Yue's face matches that of Negi's, embarrassment clearly taking control.

"So…um…I guess you and Nodoka talked, right."

"Mm hmm…it was interesting." Negi nods, both youths avoiding making eye contact briefly before Negi continues. "Um…maybe we should talk?"

Nodding in agreement, Yue follows Negi and her body, turning around long enough to shoot a death glare at anybody that may be foolhardy enough to follow and listen in on their conversation. Asuna, Haruna, and Kotaro just stare on at the duo as they fade into the distance until…

"So, I take it that Negi-sensei and Ayase-san are having a deep conversation?"

Asuna nearly jumps out of her clothes as a hand falls on her shoulder at the same time. Quickly spinning about, she comes face to face with the stoic expression of Chachamaru. After taking a moment to catch her breath, the redhead replies.

"Yeah…how did you know?"

"Master filled me in. She said she was curious to see how things worked out between the two of them."

"Aww…does Eva have a widdle crush on Negi-kun?" Haruna pipes in, putting an arm around Chachamaru's shoulders and laughing all the while. "That's so cute!"

"Actually, I asked Master the same thing." The android matter-of-factly states. "All she did was get red faced and leave the living room in a huff."

"What the hell is that!?" An exasperated Haruna finally manages to shout out. "What kind of resolution is that!? Are they going out!? Is Nodoka going to kill them!? This is crap! It's like a poorly written story or a Friday afternoon soap opera cliffhanger!"

"Um…I don't get it." Kotaro pipes in, causing Asuna and the ranting Haruna to both face fault. Not like it's his fault. The boy is a little young for matters of love, after all. After picking themselves up, Haruna breaks out in laughter before wrapping an arm around the hanyo's neck.

"You don't get it, huh?" The artist grins evilly, the glint coming off her glasses doing a hell of a job of striking fear into Kotaro's heart. "Well, let me show you…"

And with that, Kotaro finds himself in a lip lock with Haruna, much to the shock of the paper girl and the android still there. After breaking up the smooch, Haruna continues chuckling, as the pale white color of Kotaro's face is apparently humorous material for the girl.

"First kiss, Kotaro-kun?" Haruna asks, already knowing the answer to the question. "Consider it a life experience. I guess since we're on the topic of life experiences and seeing as how I'm a little hungry, we'll move onto a practice date. You can buy me dinner! C'mon!"

And with that, Haruna grabs Kotaro by the collar and drags him off in the direction of campus. The hanyo shouts for somebody, anybody to save him, but unfortunately for him, Asuna and Chachamaru are still trying to process just what the hell happened in front of them in the last thirty seconds or so. A couple of minutes later, with Kotaro way past the point of "rescue," Asuna finally snaps out of her shocked stupor and looks over at Chachamaru.

"Wow…I didn't see THAT one coming."

"It was rather odd." Chachamaru quips in response.

"I mean seriously. What the hell are the odds of that?"

"Forty-two thousand, eight hundred and fifty-seven to one."

"Um…can we just say the odds are 'snowball's chance in hell?"

"I suppose that metaphor would work, Asuna-san."

"Let's go with that then. Easier to remember."

"Of course."

* * *

**The Stat Line: **Started 3/24/08, Completed 5/26/08, Posted 6/14/08

**The Follow Up:** First and foremost, two apologies are in order. The first one being to Lunar Dragon, as I didn't mean to take so long on this little project. Wasn't really planning on taking a two month hiatus, but there it is. Secondly, is also to Lunar, and to everybody in general. I don't know why, but it just felt awkward writing this story. Don't know why it was, but I can't claim that this is my best work or even good work for that matter. Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt it. I finally decided to post this one so I could get it out of the way and out of my head...anyways, as always, reviews are appreciated, criticisms and flames as well (particuarly in this chapter, as I know it sucked). Here's hoping I didn't kill my readership with this little misfire.

Pledging to do better next time,

_-Midnight_


	3. Operation Valentine: Clyde Mk II

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Negima. That is Ken Akamatsu's brain child. The only things that I do own are my ideas, so please don't sue.

**Author's Notes: **Well, first thing's first. A big thanks goes out to all of my reviewers I had for the last chapter. I'm glad to see that it didn't turn out as bad as I originally thought. As for Lunar, if you're reading this, I'm always up for an idea. It just may take a little while for me to get to as I'm planning on going back to work on Negima: Fallout after I post this. But like I said, I'm interested. A big thank you goes to Dark Dragon Dave for the proofreading job, so if you want something to read between Workshops, take a look at some of his stuff. Kudos to Kafka'sdragon as well for this next idea, that being a Clyde/Makie date, well about 50 anyways. A shot while ago, I was writing up a story for Hydriatus' Operation Valentine I couldn't decide on what I wanted to do, so I wrote two stories instead. Now who's Clyde, you may ask? Well, that would be my OC from Negima: Fallout, of course! So if OCs aren't your cup of tea or if you are a Makie hater, this chapter probably isn't for you. If neither of those things are a problem though, enjoy the read.

**Story Statistics:**

**Main Characters:** Makie Sasaki, Clyde Metro

**Supporting Characters: **Howell Fitzwilliam, Yuna Akashi, The Cheerleader Trio

**Story Length: **4000 words plus

**Genres: **Romance/Drama/Comedy

**Extra Additions/Restrictions:** None

**Operation Valentine Mk II: Clyde's Calamity...Yet Again**

"_How in the hell did I get myself involved with this again?"_

The thought rings through Clyde Metro's head clear as a bell as he continues walking down the sidewalk, albeit with a very lively gymnast by his side. The boy fades in and out of paying attention, not really sure what to do on a date as his grand total before today was a resounding zero. But the boy's attention is drawn rather quickly as Makie skips in front of him with a confused look on her face, slightly lifting the boy's feathered hat from his head to examine it.

"So, why are you wearing that outfit from the play, Clyde-kun?"

Chuckling nervously, Clyde looks over at the confused girl that he is currently strolling about with as well as holding hands and works on weaving together an excuse.

"Well, Makie, to be honest…it's comfortable. I've taken a shine to it."

"Aw, Clyde-kun addressed me informally!" Makie squeals, squeezing the blonde's hand tighter and causing both of them to blush. "But anyways…even if it is comfortable, you do know that the hat kind of makes you look like a pimp, right?"

"_It's a cavalier hat! Not a pimp hat! And I'm only being informal because I'm used to it!"_ Clyde thinks to himself before another thought crosses the youth's mind. _"That's alright though. I'm doing a good thing. Otherwise, Makie would be sitting at that table depressed and alone. I'm making her happy, so I guess I'm doing a good job."_

"Plus she's cute…" Clyde mutters, crossing the line between thought and speech at an inopportune time. Sure enough Clyde finds himself nearly suffocating as he finds himself cheek to cheek with Makie via a bear hug.

"Aw, you're so sweet, Clyde-kun!" Makie beams, obviously having a better day than she was a half hour ago. "Say, I know a nice café that isn't too far from here. Let's go stop in for a bite!"

"Sure…we can…do that…" Clyde manages to wheeze out before both of the youths notice Asakura hanging on Connor and walking down the sidewalk across the street, only stopping briefly as the redhead ties a bandana on the young man's head.

"_What the hell is Connor doing? He's supposed to be with Ku Fei! He's blowing the plan…but wait a minute…He's with Kazumi. Hey, she's more of a Negi and Nodoka security threat than Ku Fei. Hope he knows what he's doing though. I wouldn't want the cute female chinese version of Chuck Norris pissed at me, that's for sure…"_

Clyde is quickly brought out of his thoughts as his date for the day gives his arm a tug, causing the boy to nearly fall on top of the poor girl. The blonde adjusts his feet and opts to move on, slightly taken aback by the girl's little outburst of strength.

"Hey, hey! I want to change first if I'm going into a café! Makie!"

* * *

"…so after that, I told Akira that we needed to…Howell! Are you listening!?"

The speaker, a black haired girl with part of her hair tied in a ponytail on the right side of her head smacks her companion in the arm, causing the white haired boy to turn and look at her, rubbing his arm in pain as he does so. Watching on and scoffing, a man behind a countertop goes back to cleaning glasses, leaving the two to their squabble.

"Yeah, you were saying something about…hey, a beetle!"

"Howell, I didn't say anything about a beetle! You weren't paying attention, were you?"

Noting the girl's frustration, the man behind the counter decides it's time to offer some heartfelt advice to the young man as far as his romantic endeavors are concerned…well, and to get his mind off of a potential insect infestation. Mostly insect infestation deflection of course. Health inspectors tend to frown on that type of thing, after all. Tapping the albino on the shoulder, the man leans in to talk so that only Howell can hear him.

"Hey, buddy…you know, if I was your age and I had a beautiful girlfriend like that, I would focus more on her. No need to worry about this place having bugs…which it doesn't. Maybe you should buy your girl a malt. I'm sure she'd appreciate that…"

The man trails off as he notices that the albino seems to be more interested in watching behind him. Muttering under his breath, the man continues on.

"Son, you seriously have a lack of focus. That's what's wrong with you youngsters today. You don't listen to what anybody says, even if they are trying to help you…hey, pay attention!"

The man brings his arms down hard on the counter top, making the youth's eyes snap back towards him. Shaking his head and with a slight smirk, Howell offers his rebuttal.

"I'm sorry about that, but I was just wondering…where did you get that toaster? It really does get the job done, what with all that smoke and all."

"Kid, seriously. I know you're just trying to brush me off, but I'm really trying to hel…"

"Holy crap! The toaster's on fire!"

Yuna's attention to detail is enough to make the man turn his attention to the appliance in question behind him, thus confirming that yes, the toaster is indeed on fire. Yelping in response, the man quickly scurries under the counter top to search for a fire extinguisher, not really feeling like watching his livelihood burn to the ground around him. Unfortunately for the owner and the patrons, the smoke from the now totaled appliance has done it's damage and activated the fire sprinklers, causing the albino boy to yelp in fear and try to hide under the lip of the counter top.

"Howell! Are you alright!?" A concerned Yuna asks, full well knowing of Howell's fear of water. Looking around for something to help cover him, the basketball ace finds nothing and out of concern opts to cover the rest of his body with her own. A good plan in theory, but unfortunately for the girl, a couple of drops manage to get through to Howell, causing the man to unintentionally shove the kneeling Yuna to the ground as he tries to better position himself.

"Sorry Turnips! I'm fine, I'm fine!" Howell assures the girl as he slides under a nearby table for better coverage.

* * *

_**Meanwhile…**_

* * *

"Thanks for the ice cream, Clyde-kun!" Makie happily chirps as she licks away at the aforementioned cone in her hand. Looking on at the gymnast's chipper demeanor, Clyde can't help but crack a smile himself as he shovels some of his frozen treat into his mouth, all the while being thankful that she was nice enough to let him change out of his Observer attire.

"_You know, this isn't so bad. She's having a good time, other than the bleeding my wallet will be doing after today, I'm having a good time…plus distracting her from Negi to boot. Hell, everybody wins, I guess…"_

The faint smell of smoke, however is enough to draw Clyde out of his thoughts. Looking around for the source, the blonde shakes his head as he notices what seems to be Howell distracting the store owner from a burning toaster behind him.

"Howell's trying to get the damn place burnt down…" Clyde mutters under his breath, causing the girl across the table from him to look at him in confusion.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Look over there." Clyde motions towards where Yuna and Howell are. "I'm not going to be getting my toasted club sandwich, it seems…"

Any and all thoughts Clyde has over the sandwich that never was are abruptly put on hold as water starts dripping from overhead, causing everyone in the establishment to go for cover, Clyde and Makie being no exception as they duck under their table. A few moments later, Makie shrieks in horror.

"My ice cream!" Quickly reacting, the gymnast reaches above the table, only to pull down a soggy cone. Tearing up, all Makie can respond with is, "Dang it…"

"Here you go."

Makie's tears are short lived as Clyde hands her his ice cream bowl. Grinning, the pink haired girl shoots him a thumbs up before resuming in her ice cream consumption. Satisfied with his handiwork, Clyde smirks in a victory of sorts, before a nearby thud draws his attention. Looking over to his right, the blonde notices Yuna sitting on the ground as Howell scurries away from her. Shaking his head and gritting his teeth, Clyde gets up from his hiding spot to 'defend' his friend. Knocking on the top of the table Howell is under, the albino peeks his head out from under it long enough to catch Clyde's stern gaze.

"Oh! Hello! What are you doing here?"

"Defending a friend." The blonde coldly replies as he grabs Howell by the shirt collar and drags him from under the table, causing him to yelp as water droplets hit him. Paying it no mind, Clyde drags the albino a few feet away, stopping in front of the countertop. Grabbing Howell's hair with his free hand, Clyde rears back and smashes Howell's face hard into the counter, causing him to temporarily forget about his water fear as he lies on the floor in pain, tasting the iron of his own blood from a busted lip. Deciding that the smash into the counter was a fair trade for now, the blonde turns his attention to Yuna and offers her a hand up.

"You OK, Yuna?"

* * *

Muttering profanities under his breath, Clyde rubs his still sore cheek as he walks down the streets of Mahora. Clyde's 'noble' deed apparently wasn't so noble in the eyes of Yuna, as the red handprint that is still imprinted on his left cheek will attest.

"_I don't get it…an accident? Sure, that excuse works for Howell, but when it's my case in accidentally jumping him, I don't get a free pass? I'll never understand women. That's just terrific though…Yuna hates me now I'm sure…"_

Clyde pauses for a moment before actually speaking his thoughts quietly to himself.

"…and Makie. That poor girl. I set out to make her feel better about today and I'm sure that I made her feel worse over getting in a spat about another girl…she's gotta hate me too…"

"I don't hate you, Clyde-kun."

Jumping slightly in surprise, Clyde quickly pivots around to see Makie, a half smile etched on her face. Stammering to say something for a few moments, the boy returns to silence as the gymnast puts a hand on his shoulder before asking the blonde a question.

"Clyde-kun…you like Yuna, don't you?"

Slightly sweating and blushing after Makie's accusation, Clyde quickly turns the tables on the gymnast with a question of his own.

"Well…um…you like Negi-sensei, don't you?"

"Ye…N…well, I think so." Makie manages to get out, the blush of her face dangerously close to matching the reddish pink of her hair. "I mean, I know he's only ten, but he's more mature than any ten year old I've ever known. Maybe in a couple of years…hey! No changing the subject!"

Clyde grimaces as the gymnast catches on to his diversion, taking a deep breath before responding.

"Well…let's say for the sake of argument that I do like Yuna. We could say that was ruined after today."

"Maybe not." Makie responds. "Part of the reason I came after you was to tell you that Yuna was sorry for hitting you as hard as she did. She's still mad about what you did to Howell…"

"I thought he shoved her on purpose." Clyde retorts. "How was I supposed to know that the guy was just responding to a fear of water? It's not exactly like Howell is someone I'm supposed to know everything about…wait, you said that was part of the reason. What else did you come after me for?"

"Well…I just wanted to say thank you for trying to cheer me up today. It didn't turn out the best, but I'm still happy that you tried."

Smiling, Makie tosses her arms around Clyde's neck and wraps him in an embrace, stepping back after a few moments as both of the teens are now the shade of a red crayon.

"Well…I suppose that I should get back to the dorms. I'll talk to you later, Clyde-kun."

Makie flashes a smile to the boy and makes her way back towards the dorms, leaving Clyde to his thoughts as she walks away.

"_Well, I'm happy that Makie is alright, but I still feel bad about what happened. If only there was something I could do to make it up to her…but it isn't exactly like answers are going to be falling out of the sky…"_

And as if on cue, nothing happens, much to the blonde's chagrin. Confused, Clyde looks about, looking for all the world like a complete dunce in the process.

"Right, right…what the hell was I expecting? Luke to fall from the sky?" Clyde mutters to himself before sprinting after Makie. "Hey, hold on a sec!"

"Hmm?" Makie mutters as she looks about, tilting her head in confusion as she sees Clyde running towards her. "Did you forget something?"

"Yeah, I did." Clyde replies looking down at the ground before lifting his head up to reveal a grin etched on his face. "I forgot you. C'mon, the day is still young!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Let's face it. If we just called it a day right now, you and I would just spend the rest of the day moping about feeling bad about ourselves." Clyde reasons, putting a hand on Makie's shoulder as he speaks. "Let's just pretend that earlier didn't happen, shall we? I really don't want to go home and mope, and I'm sure you don't either, right?"

"Well…" Makie ponders, shooting a suspicious glare at Clyde before grinning. "Why not? C'mon, they just opened a new amusement park like a week ago and I've wanted to check it out!"

Before Clyde has a chance to agree or disagree, he finds himself being dragged by the arm yet again by the gymnast. Shrugging it off, the blonde begins running to keep up, lest Makie rip his arm off due to her over eagerness.

* * *

"Okay, what should we do first?" Makie ponders, responding before Clyde can even get a thought out. "We could ride bumper cars, or we could go on the Ferris Wheel…or there's the Gut Smasher! Or the Pulverizer! Or the Heart Attack Deluxe!"

"Makie, that sounds a lot more like a McDonalds menu than an amusement park ride line up."

"Don't be silly, Clyde-kun! Of course they're rides!" Makie giggles, lightly punching the blonde in the shoulder. "Maybe since we're standing in the middle of it, we'll do the midway first."

"Hey, sounds like a winner to me." Clyde says with relief in his voice, thrilled to be missing out on riding the Heart Attack Deluxe, at least for the time being. After scanning the various games and booths for a few minutes, Makie's face brightens up as she walks towards a throwing game. Clyde, naturally and correctly assuming that he is to be the source of income for this little venture follows her.

"Step right up! Two balls for 100 yen! Five for 200 yen!" The carnie grins as he notices Makie making her way over to the counter. "How about it young lady? You want to give it a try? Knock the bottles over and get a prize"

"Hmm…well…" Makie ponders over the man's proposition, looking at the various prizes for display. After a quick scan, the girl's face brightens up as she notices a pink monkey among the stuffed animals. Nodding and grinning, Makie gives the carnie a thumbs up as Clyde puts his money down for the gymnast to try her luck. Rearing back, Makie hurls the first ball, narrowly missing the target.

"Good try Makie." Clyde offers up, all the while not being able to keep from smirking at the girl's enthusiasm. "A little lower next time and those bottles are toast!"

"I got it, Clyde-kun!" Makie smirks as she takes aim again. The second shot is lower as Clyde suggested, but a little too low as it bounces off the wooden shelf the bottles are sitting on and nearly ricochets towards the carnie's face. "Oops…sorry!"

The man nods and motions for the girl to take her third throw, ducking under the counter this time to avoid any projectile bouncing mishaps. Paying it no mind, the look of confidence on Makie's face is unwavering as she fires away again, this time grazing the top bottle with the ball and getting a hollow ping for her efforts.

"Almost got it…" Makie mutters under her breath as she readies herself for throw number four. Gritting her teeth, the girl fires off a shot that would make a baseball pitcher proud, hitting the bottles right in the middle of the formation. Strangely enough though, instead of cascading to the ground in a display of the gymnast's triumph, the bottles reward Makie with more hollow pinging and by staying in place. Staring at her still standing target in shock for a few minutes, the pink haired girl turns her attention back to the smirking carnie.

"Aw, too bad there sweetie. You were close too! You got one more ball left, so give it another try!"

"Hmm…" Clyde mutters as he watches on, stroking his chin as Makie lets loose with throw number five, rocketing the ball even harder than her last throw. Once again, the ball hits dead center in the bottles…and once again, hollow pinging and no fallen bottles is the result. Makie stares on in disbelief, the emotion turning to anger once the guffawing of the carnie reaches her ears.

"Hey! This game is fixed!" Makie shouts, causing the carnie to laugh even harder. The flustered gymnast looks back and forth between the laughing man and the pondering Clyde before responding again. "I hit that dead on and you know it! This game has got to be fixed!"

"Okay, you know what? I've had enough of this!" The carnie snaps, going from kind to cold in a split second. "You didn't win. You need to get the hell over it! Get out of here, now! I don't need some crybaby little snot ruining my business! Go on and get out of here! Take your dumbass boyfriend with you too!"

Makie's eyes tear up at the man's rather callous dismissal, but before she can do anything more, Clyde puts an arm around her shoulder.

"Hey, you know what? Forget this guy. Tell you what. Why don't you wait for me by the crepe stand? I have to run to the restroom."

"OK, Clyde-kun." Makie manages to get the words out in between her sniffles. "I'll see you in a couple minutes."

And with that, Makie walks away from the throwing game and the crooked jerk that is running it. Clyde, on the other hand is very much still there, apparently telling a little white lie about his restroom going activities. Leaning on the counter, Clyde motions for the man to come over.

"What the hell do you want? I told you and the whiner to get lost!"

"Yeah, yeah." Clyde dismisses the man's anger, not really caring that he is only adding to it at this point. "Now look. You know this game is corrupt, I know this game is corrupt, she knows this game is corrupt. Why don't you just be a nice guy and give her that stuffed animal that she wanted? If this game wasn't rigged, she would have knocked over enough bottles to have won it anyways."

"She had her chance and she lost!" The carnie sneers, standing up from the stool he was sitting on a moment before. "If you don't like it, you and I can take this out back and settle it!"

"Heh…challenging a teenager to a fight…" Clyde chuckles to himself before nodding in agreement. "Just be sure to take it easy on me. I don't want to get hurt too bad…"

* * *

"Wow! You won that monkey for me!? You're the best, Clyde-kun!" Makie gushes, nearly strangling the aforementioned blonde in a bear hug. "But how did you manage to get that? That jerk fixed the game, didn't he?"

"Oh, we came to an understanding." Clyde haphazardly replies. "You earned it, and he agreed. Now then, what do you want to do now?"

"Roller coaster!" Makie fires off a split second later. "Come on, it'll be fun! I hope I don't get sick like last time though…poor Akira…"

"Hoo boy…" Clyde sweats nervously, not really looking forward to the same fate that the swimmer apparently suffered some time in the past. Luckily for the blonde, his fears are put to rest as Makie lightly slugs him in the shoulder.

"I was just joking, Clyde-kun!" Makie giggles. "I wouldn't do that to Akira! I tilted my head to the other side just in time!"

"Um…"

* * *

"Um…sorry, Clyde-kun?"

Makie giggle nervously as the blonde is in the middle of getting acquainted with the nearest trashcan. Apparently the pink haired girl was fibbing as far as roller coasters and her stomach are concerned, as the gymnast isn't suffering from the same problems that her companion currently is.

"Not your fault, Makie…" Clyde manages to get out, slowly getting to his feet. "Truth be told, that was my first time on a roller coaster."

"Oh?" Makie chirps in response. "No wonder you threw up! You could have said something, y'know."

"I didn't want to be a spoilsport." Clyde retorts, happy that his vision has finally stopped spinning. "Let's go on something a little slower, should we?"

"No problem, Clyde-kun! Ferris Wheel slow enough for you?"

"Yeah, I think I can hack that."

Smiling, the pair wanders off towards the Ferris Wheel, both simultaneously groaning in frustration at the sight of the line in front of it. After a few moments of fruitlessly waiting for a line that is going nowhere in quite a hurry, Makie and Clyde are about ready to walk off when some familiar voices stop them in their tracks.

"Makie! Clyde-kun! Over here!"

Blinking at each other in confusion, the two look over their shoulders to see a girl with reddish orange hair jumping up and down waving her arms at them. Beside her is a girl with short black hair who is waving a bit more subtlety at the two. Shrugging, Makie and Clyde make their way over, paying no mind to the various patrons complaining that the two are cutting in line.

"Sakurako! Madoka! How are you guys doing?" Makie asks, giving a high five to Sakurako as she does so.

"Well, we didn't have anything better to do today, so we all came here." Madoka explains. "Misa's boyfriend works out here part time, so he got us a discount."

"And a VIP pass to go to the front of the lines!" Sakurako cheerfully adds, waving the said pass around in her hand for extra emphasis. "Say, you guys want to come ahead with us? I'm sure that Misa's boyfriend would mind…"

Sakurako trails off as she looks towards the controls of the ride, chuckling as Misa and her boyfriend are sharing a personal moment.

"…Yeah, I'm sure he won't mind! C'mon!"

"…Are they kissing or did they get stuck together?" Clyde asks, not really wanting to watch but being drawn towards the teens' make out session nonetheless. The teen's peepshow is over before it can even begin though as Makie drags the blonde onto the ride with her.

"What? I was right behind you!"

* * *

"Wow, who would've thought that Mahora would look so incredible from up in the sky?" Clyde ponders, thoroughly enjoying the view of the campus. "Being able to see something so beautiful from a Ferris Wheel…"

"Yeah, it really is something, isn't it?" Makie replies, grinning as she takes in the scenery as well. "When we all went to Kyoto a few months ago, I thought it was beautiful there, but this…wow. I can't even describe this. So amazing…"

"Are you two going to make out!?"

And as quickly as Makie and Clyde were lost in the scenery, as quickly as the two had escaped the pressures of life only to lose themselves in the bliss of the sky, they find themselves snapped back to reality by the bluntness of Sakurako's question. The two teens look at each other and face palm before Sakurako's voice cuts through again from the gondola below.

"…Because if you aren't, I'd be more than happy to switch with Mak…"

"Sakurako! Cut it out!"

"You're no fun, Madoka!"

"Well…she's high spirited…" Clyde notes, not quite sure how to react, opting to go with a shoulder shrug and a dumb look.

"She's a cheerleader, after all." Makie chuckles in response. Before the girl has time to say anything else though, the wheel comes to an abrupt stop, causing the gymnast's head to go crashing into Clyde's right shoulder.

"Hey! What gives!?" The pink haired girl demands, pretty sure that the Ferris Wheel isn't supposed to come to a bone jarring stop.

"Sorry!" Misa responds from the ground, causing the 3-A students to simultaneously sweat drop.

"…Misa's boyfriend is so fired, isn't he?" Sakurako ponders, doing her best to stifle a chuckle.

"Yep." Madoka replies, not really shocked that the ride was inadvertently stopped due to a Misa make out session. Seems to happen all the time, such as the time Misa's boyfriend was a roller skate repairman at the skating rink…but this is Makie's story, not Misa's story of accidentally costing her boyfriend jobs, so let's get back on track, shall we?

"Well…at least we get to enjoy that view that we're so in love with." Clyde offers up. "That's a plus, right?"

"Yep!" Makie agrees, taking the opportunity to look over the carnival. "I can't believe how small everybody looks from up here…hey, there's that rigged game! I wish I had something to throw at that jerk! He really deserves it! Wait a minute…"

Makie stops mid rant to take a closer look at the game. Pretty much identical to what she remembers, save for one small detail: that being the man hanging upside down from a clothesline behind the shack that the man was running the game out of. Looking closer, she notices that the man's feet and hands are tied by a rope and that his mouth has been taped shut as well.

"Clyde-kun, you didn't…did you?"

"What are you talking about, Makie?" Clyde asks innocently, causing the pink haired girl to motion down to the carnie in peril. "Oh, that. Well, the guy deserved it after all. The dude tried to pick a fight with me after you left! Please don't be mad."

Clyde's fears of the gymnast being angry are quickly diffused as he hears the girl start giggling. Taking the boy by surprise, Makie has the boy locked in a bear hug.

"Why would I be mad? You defended my honor!" Makie squeals as she keeps the pressure up on the hug, causing the blonde to see various stars and animals as he struggles to stay conscious. "Nobody has ever done something like that for me before! That is so awesome, Clyde-kun!"

After a few more seconds of Makie's death grip, she turns her attention back to Clyde to notice that his face is blue and that he is a little on the unconscious side. Chuckling nervously, Makie releases her grip on the boy, causing him to lean back in the gondola.

"Um…Clyde-kun?"

* * *

After about a five minute delay that as speculated led to Misa's boyfriend being fired, the Ferris Wheel comes to life again, much to the delight of both the current riders and the ever growing line. By the time their gondola has touched down, Makie has managed to wake Clyde out of his air deprived slumber. As the two walk from the ride, Makie nudges the blonde in the arm.

"Clyde-kun…sorry about knocking you out like that…" Makie starts, looking down at the ground as she walks. "That's a problem I have I guess. People always say that I act childish and maybe that's why Negi-kun…"

The gymnast abruptly stops dead in her tracks with her last words, both out of shock and embarrassment. Turning about and expecting to see Clyde angry about her bringing up another male in the middle of their unofficial date, Makie is instead shocked to see Clyde chuckling over the matter.

"Makie…you're fine just the way you are. I know it's hard to see that as the biggest critic of a person is themselves, but there isn't any worry for you to change. If it's meant to be between you and Negi, it will happen someday."

After firing off his words of wisdom, a thought crosses into Clyde's head.

"_What in the hell was that, Metro? You've seriously got to lay off the sitcoms…"_

Makie nods in understanding, a smile breaking out on her face as she does so. "That's good advice, Clyde-kun." The gymnast pauses briefly before continuing. "I hope you pay attention to it as far as Yuna is concerned."

"What are you talking about?" Clyde laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his neck for extra emphasis. "That was a good joke, Makie! I'm glad to see you're feeling better. Well, I suppose I should get out of your hair. Don't forget your stuffed animal! Bye!"

And with that, Clyde takes the monkey off his back quite literally and puts it in Makie's arms before making a run for it. However, the boy doesn't get hardly five feet before he feels something wrap around his right leg, causing him to trip a split second later. As Clyde grimaces in pain, he looks down at his leg to see just what in the hell tripped him up, confused as he notes that it looks like a simple ribbon. A pink ribbon. Following the fabric from his leg, he sees Makie standing a few feet away, the other end of the ribbon at her feet.

"Now come on, Clyde-kun. I'm not going to let you run away!" Makie grins, helping the boy to his feet. "There's still so much to do! The day is young! You're right about whatever is meant to be will happen, but that doesn't do anything about right now, does it?"

Clyde blinks in confusion, his confusion only increasing as Makie plants a kiss on his cheek. Before the boy can react, he finds his hand in Makie's, being swung up and down.

"Let's head back to the dorms and drop off the stuffed animal, then we'll see what we can do for dinner. Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Sure, why not?" Clyde agrees, walking with the pink haired girl back to the dorms. After a few steps, Clyde rummages around in his jeans pocket with his free hand, pulling out a card a few moments later. Looking at the card, one can see a certain basketball loving girl dressed up as a witch and sporting magic pistols. Clyde chuckles to himself as he looks at the card.

"_If it's meant to be, it will happen someday…' yeah, I should listen to my own advice. But for now, it's best to live in the present. Who knows, maybe the present will be what's meant to be…"_

"Clyde-kun, are you okay?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Clyde tucks the card back into his pocket and picks up his pace to match that of the gymnast's.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go, shall we?"

* * *

**The Stat Line:** Started 7/22/08, Completed 8/03/08

**Musical Motivations:** "Someday" by The Strokes, "Tonight Tonight" by The Smashing Pumpkins

**The Follow Up:** Well, another chapter is in the books. If you are still reading this, I hope that you enjoyed the read. It may be a little bit before you see more Workshop as I'm going to be putting in some work on Fallout, but don't fret. If you have an idea, send it in. I do stuff besides OC fiction, despite what Workshop has mostly been so far, so go ahead and tell me if you have a story idea. See you all around with the next Fallout and Workshops!

_-Midnight_


	4. Love Notes and the Bumbling Detective

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Negima. The only things that I own are my ideas, so please don't sue. Gaming wise, it's going to be an expensive next couple of months, so I'm going to need what few pennies I can scrounge together.

**Author's Notes: **No reason to get into a big old song and dance here. This story idea is brought to you by GaleBread, so kudos to him. Sloan and Clyde are my own creations, with Clyde being from "Negima: Fallout" and Sloan making his fanfiction debut here in this oneshot. Luke belongs to Hydriatus, author of "Time is Everything" and "Our Time Together." And last but not least, Howell is the brain child of Tsutomu Teruku, penner of "Pactum Factum." On with the show!

**Main Characters:** Negi Springfield, Natsumi Murakami, Sloan Maxwell (OC), Luke Mason (OC)

**Support:** Chizuru Naba, Chisame Hasegawa, Clyde Metro (OC), Howell Fitzwilliam (OC)

**Story Length:** Between 1000 to 1500

**Genre:** 20 Mystery, 80 Humor

**Extra Additions/Restrictions:** Be creative, utilize the 'Theru Laughter,' but must not refer directly to fan fiction authors. **Bonus Restriction:** Must write story in first person perspective.

* * *

The evening air is slightly humid as I make my approach towards Mahora Academy…but I suppose that introductions should come first. All apologies. My name is Sloan Maxwell. Fifteen years of age, short curtained red hair, sky blue eyes, blood type B…I suppose that is enough for now. Anyways, the reason I am at this school is due to the request of an old friend, Luke Mason. Seems that someone has been causing problems at the school with mysterious notes and he wants me to look into it. Seeing as how I was in the area, I decided to take the case…that, and the fact that in order to do that "eating" thing that I like to do in order to live, it usually requires money in order to do it.

As I near the main plaza, I see my employer waving at me. Next to him is a shorter lad with glasses and reddish hair. Flashing my blonde haired friend a smile, I nod and shake his hand. Sitting on a bench and adjusting my overcoat, I listen to what Luke has to say.

"I am so glad that you were in town, Sloan! Nobody has been able to figure this out!" Luke pauses, putting a finger to his chin in puzzlement. "True, it's only been twenty four hours since these notes have been popping up, but still…"

I sigh quietly, not really thrilled with Luke beating around the bush. Apparently noticing my slight annoyance, the shorter boy steps in front of Luke and speaks.

"I've heard good things about you, Sloan-san." The boy pipes in, extending his hand. "My name is Negi Springfield. I'm the teacher of the girls that have been receiving these notes."

"Ah, so you're the famed Professor Springfield." I reply, chuckling as I rub his head. Oily…definitely a kid. Petrified of taking baths. Go figure. "Even knowing that there's a ten year old teacher at this school, it is still a shock to actually meet him. But then again, we would probably have met anyways, what with the whole magic thing and all. Go ahead and tell me what you know. And please, we're both westerners. No need for titles between us"

"Well, if you insist." Negi nods and smiles back before getting down to business. "Well, you see, it started out innocently enough. A girl in my class got a love letter. They're teenagers, it happens. But soon enough, another girl gets one, and another, and so forth. Some of the girls showed them to me and the writing style is near identical on all of them. I think somebody is just trying to mess with their heads."

"So this is really all the job is?" I shake my head sadly. "I was hoping for a kidnapping or a robbery or something with a little more…well, kick to it. But since I'm here, I guess I'll take it. Negi, if you would be so kind as to collect all the letters you can from your students. I'd like to have a look at them, if you don't mind."

"No problem, Sloan-san."

"You can drop the 'san' business, remember."

"Right…sorry, force of habit."

And with those words, Negi takes his leave. Chuckling and shaking my head, I turn back to Luke.

"Seriously? This little Hardy Boys adventure is the best you have to offer? I'll have it solved in under an hour!"

"Well sorry if we don't have the puzzle solving skills that you do!" Luke retorts, the obvious sarcasm in his voice causing me to roll my eyes in response. "It's just that it's ticking a lot of people off…"

At this point, I notice that at the top of the stairs leading to the academy there is a white haired man standing there. Luke follows my gaze behind him and notices the man as well, causing him to sigh.

"…people like him. Howell, I told you I got this taken care of!"

"I know!" The albino replies. "I got bored! Turnips and her dad went out for supper tonight and Akira has a swim meet! Yuna didn't tell me to stay in the closet…so I didn't!"

Taken back by the albino's cheeriness for a brief moment, especially considering that Luke told me he was "ticked," I regain my composure long enough to ask the man a question.

"So, then…Howell, was it? What can you tell me about this?"

"Oh right!" Howell smiles, handing me a piece of paper. "I found this note in the mailbox this afternoon. Somebody REALLY likes Yuna it looks like." A childish smirk appears on the boy's face as he says his next words. "I didn't write it, did I?"

Sighing in frustration Luke puts a hand on his shoulder.

"No, you didn't Howell. I was grabbing the mail for Miss Nagase at the same time, remember?"

"Oh yeah! Right!"

"OK…let's get back on track here." I reply, none too thrilled about having valuable investigation time waste away. "Is there anyone else here that likes this Yuna girl?"

"Well, there's Clyde Metro." Luke responds. He has a bit of a thing for Miss Akashi…at least I think."

Having my first solid lead, I stand from the bench, smirking as I adjust my fedora.

"Well then, let's go pay Mister Metro a visit, shall we?"

* * *

After a brief walk, my companions and myself have made it to the dorms. With the smells of perfume and the soft blue and pink décor of half of the hallways, it's quite easy to tell what gender inhabits the building. Well, the trio of girls in cheerleading uniforms that jumped me in the lobby was also a good giveaway. A very cute trio of girls in cheerleading uniforms. A trio that I should have collected phone numbers for had they not broke the pen in my overcoat. Fate is not on my side tonight, it seems…Ahem…anyhow, after navigating through a few more hallways, we find our target: Room 665. Reading the names on the plaque next to the door, I motion Howell and Luke to go back downstairs so I can conduct my investigation in peace. Knocking on the door, I am greeted by a short, skinny redhead. And cute. Mustn't forget cute.

"Hi…can I help you with something?"

"Certainly, miss." I reply, tucking my fedora under my arm. "I was hoping to have a word with Clyde Metro."

"Um…now isn't a good time." The girl nervously responds, causing my eyebrow to arch. "Him and Chizu-ne are in the middle of something."

"Chizu-ne?" I ask in confusion, not really on the ball as much as I would like when it comes to Japanese honorifics. Noting my confusion, the redhead chuckles briefly before clarifying.

"Chizuru is her name. She's my roommate too. And like I said, they're a little busy right now, so maybe if you could try back later?"

"…Busy?"

Shaking my head in frustration, I look back towards my comrades, both of which were out of eyesight from the girl at the door. After reading the eyes of my companions, I decide to bite the bullet, hoping that I won't be getting a slap for my brashness.

"Um…miss?" I ask, causing the redhead to stop in the middle of closing the door. "I really do hate to sound rude, especially to someone I just met, but can you please ask Mister Metro to get himself in a proper state of attire to talk to me?"

"Proper state of attire…?" The girl repeats, the look in her eyes making it clear that we're on two different wavelengths. Before she has a chance to ask me to elaborate though, a voice cuts through from inside the dorm room. A male's voice.

"Aw damn! It happened again!"

"It's all right Clyde." A second voice replies, this time a female. "You're lasting longer. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"No, it's not all right! I need to be better! I'm sorry I'm not giving you a match, Chizuru. I've been trying to all day!"

Grimacing at the conversation and what I'm going to find, I opt to open the door, much to the red haired girl's protests to discover who I assume is Clyde and the aforementioned Chizuru on the floor…playing a video game. Bowser beating down Captain Falcon…hmm…interesting. My gaze moves from the television screen back to the two teens sitting on the floor; the girl looking amused, the blonde boy looking somewhat annoyed. Putting his controller down, the youth gets to his feet and walks up to me, the look in his eyes telling me that I should be quick with whatever I am here to talk to him about.

"Clyde Metro, nice to meet you." I smirk, holding out my hand to shake his. "My name is Sloan Maxwell and I'm here to talk to you about…"

My words come to an abrupt end as Clyde walks away from me and towards the red haired girl with the freckles, a look of slight frustration being etched on his face.

"Natsumi, how'd this bonehead get in here?"

"Sorry about that Clyde. He just kind of walked in."

"Really? Well, in that case, it sounds like he's trespassing…not to mention getting in the way of my Smash Brothers victory streak."

"Actually, you've lost the last one hundred and thirty-six matches."

I chuckle to myself at the brown haired girl's comment, taking glee in watching the teen's girlfriend making him turn a shade of red that is dangerously close to the color of my own hair. Or maybe she isn't his girlfriend. Maybe after this case blows over, me and her can go get a cup of coffee…no! Focus, damnit! Plenty of time for romance after I solve this mystery and lighten Luke's wallet, after all.

"So you going to answer my question, or am I going to have to get nasty?"

Alas, the thoughts of dames and cash are wiped from my mind like a brushfire when Clyde speaks to me. However, I find myself having a hard time taking him seriously, as it seems that his idea of "getting nasty" is threatening me with a high heel. Hopefully not his. But then again, whatever he does in his personal time is up to him.

"Put your heel down and let's talk this through…"

"It's my roommate's!"

"…that's a relief. I just wanted to ask you about the mysterious love letters that have been floating around here."

"Love letters?"

Puzzled, Clyde tilts his head and stares into my eyes, as if hoping to get an answer to his question. After a few moments of having to put up with the dumb look that he is giving me, I break the silence.

"A friend of mine, Luke Mason, hired me to…"

"Luke?" The blonde's face brightens up slightly at the mention. "Well, in that case, he'll understand that I'm a little busy at the moment. Way too busy to be writing love letters. One hundred and thirty-six losses worth of being busy. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to salvage some dignity."

And with that, I find myself being ushered out the door and into the hallway, the door slamming shut behind me. Playing video games with an attractive girl…lucky bastard. Clearly, this guy isn't my suspect. Before I can speculate further, I feel someone tapping on my shoulder. Spinning about, I come face to face with several sheets of paper being held in front of me by a smiling Negi.

"Here are all the letters I could find." Negi chirps, putting the small stack of papers in my hand. "Something strange I noticed too is that with the exception of the person that they are addressed to, the letters are worded exactly the same."

"They are, huh?" I mutter quietly as I rifle through the various sheets. Feeling the paper under my hand, I can tell that it's of a rather high quality. The kind of stuff you would feel that you could get away with printing pictures on with nobody being the wiser until they felt the paper. The words are exactly the same as Negi said…but the actual writing looks too identical for every single letter to have been handwritten. No slight differences in the writing whatsoever such as from a tired hand. Putting aside the thought of my newfound acquaintance thinking that I'm weird, I hold one of the sheets to my nose and sniff the ink, first on the individual's name and then on the bulk of the writing. I go through the process with the first few letters, nodding in understanding after about the fourth one.

"Negi…you are right about this being the work of one person…the ink smells exactly the same on every single one of them. Printer ink, to be precise. The only thing that is handwritten on these things is the names to whom they are addressed to, and the smell of the ink on those is identical too. Somebody had to have some high end equipment to pass these all off as handwritten."

"Hmm…" Negi strokes his chin and adjusts his specs before giving me a response. "The only person I know that would have that kind of stuff would be Chisame-san…but she wouldn't do this, would she?"

"I can't say. It couldn't hurt to talk to her, right?"

Looking towards the boy for some sort of confirmation, I notice all he can do is chuckle nervously. I'm sure the boy is just overreacting. All the girls I've met on campus so far have been warm and friendly…and attractive. Aw, cut it out! Damn thoughts…

* * *

Well, it's safe to say that my initial thoughts about this Chisame girl were definitely wrong. Not the attractive part, mind you, but the warm and friendly bit? Definitely flew right out the freaking window as she is currently hoisting poor Negi up by his collar and holding him against the wall of her room. Concerned for the youth's well being, I casually place a hand on the incensed girl's shoulder hoping to calm her down. Well, this is a good news and bad news bit. The good news is that she's put Negi back down on the ground. The bad news? She did it so she could throw a haymaker at me, just barely missing my jaw and grazing off my shoulder as I pivot out of the way. An iron fist in a velvet glove…interesting.

"Nice swing there, miss." I congratulate the girl. "It doesn't look like you could punch that hard at first glance but…"

"Shut up!" Chisame snarls back, causing me to raise an eyebrow in response. "I've got enough headaches today without having to deal with some stranger!"

"Headaches?"

"Yeah! First off there is that annoying love letter I got a couple of hours ago. I come back here to try to make sense of it and relax, and what happens? Oh, that's right. You and sensei here have to come knocking and accuse me of doing this!"

"I didn't accuse you of anything." I point out, hoping to calm her down through words this time around. "It's just that you have some top end computer stuff here, so…"

"…So I'm a suspect? What the hell kind of logic is that!?" Chisame fumes, the vein in her head making me worried for the girl's physical health. "There's other people that have access to computers like mine, you know! Besides, why would I do up a letter for myself!? I've got better things to do than mess with the idiots in class!"

"Like dressing up as a bunny girl, right?" I point out, causing the girl to yelp in shock and tear the bunny ears from her head. "Not bad. Being ticked off really makes you look that much cuter…"

Apparently the girl can't take a compliment as Negi and I find ourselves on the outside of a slamming door soon after my comment. The door is opening up? Oh good, maybe she calmed down and wants to talk to us…

"Take your stupid letters too! Baka!"

…Or maybe not. Negi and I look at each other and try to make sense of the girl's outburst. Clearly she isn't the guilty party. No hot leads right now…guess it's back to the drawing board for now.

"Hey, what's with all the shouting up here?"

"Yeah, come on! This is supposed to be a place to relax!"

Blinking, I look to the left down the hallway to see the trio of cheerleaders that greeted me when I first entered the building…yeah, let's go with "greeted." As soon as they glance towards Negi and myself, they stop in the hall and talk amongst themselves. I'm really wishing that I could read lips right now, but it can't be helped. After a few moments, the trio looks up at us, the purple haired girl and the orange haired girl staring us down with smiles on their faces. Smiles that would fall under the lovey-dovey category.

"Negi-kun…you've been writing the letters, haven't you?" The purple haired girl asks, slightly blushing as she does so.

"Misa, cut it out! I'm sure there's an explanation for why Negi-sensei and that kid are holding those letters." The black haired girl in the trio points out.

"There sure is, Madoka…Clyde-kun and the other redhead cutie have crushes!" The orange haired girl squeals. "Um…my name is Sakurako…nice to meet you…"

"Sloan. Sloan Maxwell." I carefully reply, hoping my voice doesn't convey the wrong message.

"He's even got a western name! Him and Negi-kun were in on this together!" Sakurako concludes. Completely inaccurate, but a conclusion nonetheless. I glance over at my young companion and the look between us says it all: Diffuse this situation immediately. A good idea in theory, of course, but not so much in execution as the voices of more females can be heard closing in.

"Sakurako-san! Misa-san! You two don't need to be so loud!"

"Sorry rep! But…we did find out who wrote those letters."

"…Negi-sensei?" The "rep" gasps in astonishment. Blonde, emerald green eyes…Negi is going to have one hell of a time once he hits puberty, especially if his class then is as attractive as the current batch. Another one coming up the stairs behind the blonde…two of them actually. Twins. Ninja twins it seems…except I'm sure that actual ninjas have a better sense of balance as both of them have tripped over the rep. A basketball player, a gymnast, a girl with glasses and cowlicks…all of whom are sharing that lovey-dovey look that the cheerleaders had earlier. Well, there's only one thing to do in a case like this…

"Cut and run, Negi!"

"What!?"

"Trust me, it's for the best!"

Grabbing the youth by the arm, I sprint in the opposite direction of the ensemble of comely young ladies that are currently giving chase. Looking for an escape, one presents itself to us in the form of a fire exit. Taking the lead, I kick open the door and run…straight down. Who in the blue hell makes a fire escape door that leads to a ladder and not a staircase? Hitting the ground with a tremendous crash, I'm ever so thankful that we were only on the second story. Any higher and it may have left a little more damage, magic be damned. Looking up towards the door on the bogus fire escape, I can see that Negi is lucky enough to have stopped before running out to a fate similar to mine. Maybe not so lucky though, as several hands reach around him and drag him away from the door. A look of horror on his face…yeah, it's probably for the best that he isn't a teenager himself yet. Picking myself off the ground and getting to a seated position, I can't help but notice the orange haired girl climbing down the ladder towards me…Sakurako, wasn't it? Maybe she's come to her senses over that whole letter thing. Maybe her black haired friend was able to talk some sense into her? Wait…crap. That lovey-dovey stare is still there. Running…bracing myself…tackled. Terrific.

"Nihaha!"

Laughter…well, it's a female's, but not Sakurako's. Doesn't sound like it. Or maybe it is…? The blow that the girl accidentally made me take to my head is leaving me not so clear at the moment. Guess the case is a wash…Luke is still paying me though. Damn well making sure of that. But for now, I'm feeling a little woozy. Maybe I'll take a little nap…

* * *

**The Stat Line: **Started: 8/18/08, Completed: 8/30/08, words in actual story: 3400+ (Sorry Gale. Got a little carried away.)

**The Follow Up:** So who the hell did write the letters then? Much like Sloan's investigation turned up, it may remain a mystery that will never be solved. Could it have been Chisame, using her anger as a front? Maybe it was Haruna, looking to start up the rumor mill. Or maybe it was someone else…maybe Sloan will figure out some day. As usual, questions/comments/reviews/flames/suggestions are all welcomed. Sorry for the OC heaviness that Workshop has been going through. I do have ideas for non OC stuff, so be on the lookout for some of that later on down the road. See you all later with the next Workshop!

_-Midnight_


End file.
